Baddour has left the firm by mutual agreement, according to an Adidas spokesman, and is thought to have been unhappy with the role after he took over from Neil Simpson last autumn. Simpson left Adidas to join Vodafone as director of global marketing communications.
Baddour, who joined Adidas from French ad agency BDDP & Fils, could not be reached for comment as Marketing went to press. It is not known whether he has a job to go to. The spokesman confirmed that Adidas was in the process of hunting his replacement as head of global brand concepts and advertising, senior vice-president.
Adidas is understood to be planning to hike its global media spend by up to 20% next year to capitalise on its sponsorship of the Euro 2004 football tournament, to be held in Portugal.
The company spends about $160m (£99.5m) on international ad campaigns each year. Its key markets are Germany and the UK.
The firm will use Euro 2004 and the build-up to the 2006 World Cup, which is being hosted in Adidas' home nation of Germany, to promote its heritage as a sports brand.
This is in contrast to rivals such as Nike and Reebok, which have spent ever larger sums emphasising their fashion credentials. Adidas executives are said to have set 2006 as a target for overtaking Nike.
Last week, Adidas unveiled its latest global football advertising campaign, created by 180\TBWA in Amsterdam. The ads celebrate ways in which individual football players can make their mark on the game.
Real Madrid players David Beckham, Zinedine Zidane and Raul all feature in the campaign, which will run on television, posters and in print media in key markets.
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